


Discovery Pt. 2

by orphan_account, RougemageNick



Series: Just a RWBY OS full of OCs... [28]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Original Story - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 02:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3632898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RougemageNick/pseuds/RougemageNick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are heating up for team JNAS as they get closer to the raider's camp. Team SCRT recovers from their violent encounter with an odd squadron of comatose fighters, but things don't get any easier for them as they discover mystery after mystery...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discovery Pt. 2

Discovery:

Mickey whistled to herself as she moved quickly on the back of the wind. The breeze marked the trees and roots. Every falling leaf was clear, and brushed aside by her swift movements. She stopped suddenly and jumped onto a tree branch high up, sitting down and pulling her scroll out. She activated the Sentinel and looked through the results of the scan...Four scrolls...The team's scrolls...But nothing else. She frowned. This means that her foes either didn't have computers, or they were simply too well hidden. Either way, it meant that they the resources to either work without computers...Or that they had the resources to keep those computers hidden. Not easy to discern...Or combat. Mickey sighed and put her scroll away. Her first mission in years...And it was clearly not going well. She thought back to the days when she used to be a huntress. A smile made it's way across her lips. She couldn't help it. Fond memories, to be sure. How confident she was...And rightly so... She was considered an incredibly gifted huntress. Talented and cunning...But also headstrong and decisive.

"What would I have done back then? What decision would Past Mickey have made..." she muttered to herself, trying to gather her thoughts. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was within their territory. Whether or not they were using the old Hunting camp as a base was questionable...Whether or not she could get close enough to find out without being spotted was also up for debate. But there was no time for that now. "Decisive, Mickey. Come on." she thought, tilting her head back. That's it. She had to make a decision. And she knew exactly what her past self would have done. She nodded and leapt from the tree, activating the wind dust in her heels and dashing off again. The only decision she could make was to get to the hunting camp and find out. She at least knew they didn't have any surveillance cameras or bugs...The Sentinel would have detected them. So she assumed the only way they'd see her was by line of sight. That was a problem she could solve.

"A huntsman or huntress as a leader, eh...Hm..." she thought to herself. She didn't even have to consult her map to know where the camp was. She remembered this. She had been there once with her own team, after their graduation. Their first mission as professional huntsman and huntresses...Which they decided to take on together. That one wasn't something she liked to remember. She jumped up over a particularly large root that stuck up from the ground, and used the jump to get herself into the trees. She could easily cloak herself from here on. It wasn't a far distance now. How long had she been running? She couldn't even remember...She only knew how close she was. The treeline broke ahead. That's where she stopped. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and looked out of the trees. There it was...An older camp...An entire castle, including an underground bunker...Right here. If they did have any computers, the bunker would have hidden them from any satellite. The castle looked abandoned from here. A giant wall surrounded the area though, so she couldn't even be sure unless she got closer...Or higher. She glanced up before climbing the tree she was in, being careful to stop at a point where the foliage was still thick enough to block her from view. Eight guard towers spotted the circular wall. Sure enough, each was manned.

She frowned, growling to herself a little, watching the two men in the tower nearest to her. She couldn't see whether or not they carried weapons, as both held binoculars instead. 'Probably heat vision as well as night vision...' she thought. But those were useless on her. The wind that surrounded her could disrupt the flow of heat from her body, making her invisible to them. The stones had been treated with earth and ice dust, and could withstand a tank...But the doors...They were a bit weaker. Only four doors decorated the facility, but Mickey knew better. She knew of seven different escape tunnels that lead varying distances from the castle. She knew this because she'd used them once...Her whole team had. Because the doors were no longer usable...

"Speaking of which...", she muttered to herself, thinking of the doors. She moved left in the trees carefully until she came to a position where she could see one of the doors. It had been reinforced...She frowned again, remembering when that door had been destroyed. She couldn't help but wonder if that door was still useable, or if the only way in or out was through the tunnels. "Either one would be a problem..." she said to herself, putting her hand to her chin. She stopped suddenly when her scroll buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and opened it. The screen flashed red for a few seconds. Her eyes widened as she opened the emergency message.

"H-how is that even possible...How could Vale have been breached by Grimm?!" she growled again to herself as she jumped down from the trees. She quickly sent a message to the team, telling them to gather at the Sentinel again. If they were called back from their mission here, then it could mean having to abandon their **real** mission here. And that could be a problem...She sighed to herself as she dashed through the forest, skating on the wind from the dust in her heels, "This isn't going very well at all..."

* * *

 

The twins could barely stand or walk as they waited there...Professor Goodwitch had arrived on the scene, apparently having already been dressed, despite the late hour. They sat with their backs to the car, which had been pulled back onto the road by Sam. Rachel called her sister Grace about the damage to her car, but her sister was happy about it...Saying she'd have the car repaired, and painted over to mark the places it had been damaged, so she could show off the car used by her future-huntress little sister.

"It makes me  **proud** of you, Rachel." she had said over the phone. The scene was being examined by a special forces team from Atlas...The twins hadn't said a word since the end of the encounter. Although it annoyed Goodwitch, it was more annoying to her that a civilian had gotten involved with this fight. She let the twins be, and instead spoke to Samuel, Rachel, and Sid.

"This will  **not** be tolerated, young lady. You could have been seriously hurt or killed. Did you even think for a single second about what you were getting yourself into?" she demanded, facing down Sid. **  
**

Sid however, was not fazed. "Yes ma'am, I did. And you know, the only thing that went through my mind was 'Hm, be hurt or killed, or let my friends put them into a position where **they** could have been hurt or killed...With all due respect, professor, we were  **all** in danger of being killed tonight, and I wasn't about to ignore that and let them go alone when I could have helped." she answered without flinching. Goodwitch sighed. Between staying up this late, and her worries about Ozpin's choices, she was too tired to deal with this.

"Find a place in town to stay. And  **stay there.** Don't go out until tomorrow morning. I'll oversee this team, and get back to you with any findings tomorrow. You're dismissed. Get those twins cleaned up..." she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose before turning from them. The team looked back at the twins. They still sat with their backs against the car. They hadn't moved or spoken...It was as if they were paralyzed. Sam sighed and gestured towards them. Rachel got into the driver's seat, and Sam took shotgun. Sid sat between the twins in the back seat. They didn't put up any resistance when Sam had picked them up and put them there. The drive back to Sid's home was painfully silent. When they got there, Sam helped the twins from the car, and with the help of Sid and Rachel, guided them to the elevator and up to Sid's room.

"Let's...Let's get these two showered off..." Sam said to the girls when the door was closed. Sid turned the shower on for them, and Sam helped get Chris out of his outfit...Neither he nor his sister could even move. Covered in blood, they were practically shut down. Rachel did the same for Tia after Chris was done and dressed in casual clothes from the bag he'd brought into Vale. Once he was clean, at least he was able to move and dress himself. He sat on the couch and waited for his sister to be done. In the meantime, Sid took their combat gear downstairs and washed it as she'd been instructed to by Sam. When Tia finally sat down beside her brother on the couch, dressed in her own casual clothing. The two of them appeared to be shivering as they sat there.

"So...Is this really the life we've signed up for..." they muttered together. It was surprising to Rachel and Sam for the twins to be the first ones to speak up.

"Yeah...It is...It's not exactly what it's made out to be...It's...Just another occupation...It's no title...It's not a ranking...It's simply a career..." Sam responded, sitting on the couch next to them.

Rachel, who'd taken the desk, sighed, "It sounds like you expected something different..." she muttered.

The twins shook their heads, "No...We expected it to be...Nothing like what they say it is...But we wanted to have that life...We wanted to be something kids could look up to through any pain...We wanted to be for others what they were for us...But...To be honest, the only thing we didn't expect...Was how absolutely difficult this path would be..." they muttered again, leaning their heads back on the couch and watching the cieling.

"How did you make it this far, then?" Rachel asked idly.

"Mostly with...The other's support...We've dealt with everything up till now by eachother's sides...It's a bit isolating...And now we're just...Not sure how to continue..." they answered.

"Yes you are..." Sid retorted as the door closed behind her. The twins looked over at her. "You know exactly how to keep going...Everything you need is right here in this room. Isn't this the exact reason why you now have a team?" Sid asked. The twins glanced at eachother, then at their teammates. Rachel did her best to smile, and Sam did so without struggle.

"She's right...It may sound a little cliche, but you're no longer isolated. We can support you. I wager that's the whole purpose of having these teams...So that we're all supported, and can walk the path of a huntsman and huntress in solidarity..." Sam answered in a level tone.

The twins sighed and stood up, "I guess we'll just have to get used to that...Thanks, guys..." they said.

"So Sid...Could we...Like...Stay with you?" Tia asked, without her brother this time. Everyone looked at Tia with a mixture of shock and annoyance.

Sid laughed aloud at the conspicuous reactions and nodded, "Yeah, that'd be fine...But the rule stands...Guys with guys, girls with girls...Rachel and Tia, you can sleep in my bed with me...It's a huge bed, so don't worry...And I promise, no sexy stuff...Sam and Chris, my couch flattens and becomes a bed...It's pretty cushiony, so you should be fine..." she explained. The room was silent for a minute. "Hey, I'm already involved anyway, yeah? Let me help one more time today...And if you like, tomorrow, I'll but out..." she said.

"Alright...I guess that's fair...Thank you, Sid..." Sam answered, looking at his teammates and getting their responses. Within half an hour, every member of the team, and even Sid, had crashed...

 

Sam woke up, breathing heavily and feeling overheated. Again...It wasn't that common, but common enough to be expected. He sighed and grabbed his scroll from the coffee table next to him. It was ringing, and the number was the professor's. He sighed again and pressed answer, bringing the scroll to his head. He wasn't even given the chance to respond before Goodwitch spoke.

"Samuel, wake your team and join me in town. I'll be paying for breakfast, and we'll be discussing the findings of last night. Please make it quick." she commanded.

Sam nodded before remembering she couldn't see him, "Uh, ok...We can do that...Thanks professor..." he mumbled groggily. He hung up and put his scroll down. He breathed in heavily and glanced down over himself, realizing his combat clothing had been taken to be washed as well as the twins...He could only barely remember the half hour before everyone dropped, when everyone put on their pajamas for bed...He would have to thank Sid for cleaning the team's outfits. He turned over and nudged Chris, who was sleeping on the back of the couch, which had been flattened to be level with the seats. Chris mumbled something and rolled over. Sam sighed and pushed him harder this time, knocking him off the couch. He grumbled and sat up, stretching. He still wore his casual clothing, as the rest of the team was. Sam stood, going around the couch to help Chris up.

"Ugh...Why..." Chris demanded.

"Orders from the professor..." he answered, still half asleep as he opened the door to Sid's room. The girls were all asleep soundly, Sid on the outside of Tia, Rachel on the other end. He flipped the light switch to try and wake them up. It worked well, as the girls all gasped and groaned when the light hit them. Although it had taken them a half hour to get to bed last night, it only took them half that time to get ready, even if they were still a little rattled by their encounter. But they were all eager to talk to Goodwitch about what was learned. Sid wanted to go with, but this time, Tia was adamant that she stay. They would fill her in if anything wasn't classified. Sid only agreed because of her promise from the previous night. Grace's car waited for them in the small parking lot by the apartment building...Dented and scratched, but running, the team, now dressed in combat gear once more, got into the car silently, and drove off towards the small local restaurant Goodwitch had designated for them. It was a more expensive looking place...As they looked at the building, something seemed familiar about this place.

"Hey...Wasn't this restaurant in the news? Like...A couple months ago or something?" the twins asked.

Sam nodded, "There was apparently some big fight between a couple of students from Beacon, here...One kid apparently lost his shit and destroyed the place, but no names were released, so..." Sam answered as they looked around. The man who stood behind the small counter inside the door looked them over for a few seconds. 

He then smiled, "Ahh, you're the students, yes? Please, your teacher is expecting you..." he said, bowing slightly and leading them to a corner table on the right side of the table. Professor Goodwitch sat at the head of the table, sipping coffee in one hand, and holding her scroll tablet in her other. She watched the students approach and waited patiently for them to sit, Sam next to Rachel across from Tia and Chris, and pick up their menus. After a few minutes, everyone had placed their order, Goodwitch included, and the waiter took their menus and walked off to the kitchen. When he had left, Goodwitch cleared her throat.

"Alright...We have some information to go over...Everyone please take out your scrolls, I'll send you the file and we'll go over it now." she said, in the tone of a teacher. The students nodded and pulled their scrolls out, which immediately rang as the files hit their inboxes. They opened the files at the same time, which was filled with medical reports and statements from the surviving men who were taken in...

"The statements we have from the men who were present were completely useless...It seems like they completely forgot the totality of the incident. Worse yet, these men don't exist, it would seem. There is no record of them, no pictures in any database to match them...They are complete ghosts...They're well trained, though they remember nothing about that training...They've suffered no injuries except some concussions and burns that match dust patterns of weapons like the Dragoon twin's batons. They've passed every polygraph, every test, every psychological evaluation...These men are sound of mind, and they have no memory of anything they were doing..." she explained as they looked through the medical files and evaluation files.

"And...The...Man who...Burst?" the twins asked tentatively.

Goodwitch sighed and directed them to the autopsy report, "The man who burst...Was filled with some sort of super serum...The serum deteriorated with his body, at an insanely substantial rate...We couldn't recover anything...But we did see a small bit of it's effects...It caused hyperactive tissue regeneration, that left iron residues over his body. But the strangest effect was his aura...Though aura does fade upon death...This man's aura was completely gone by the time we started the autopsy...There was nothing left...His body was falling apart as the autopsy was concluding..." she said solemnly. "Your team was the last to see this man alive...Do you have any statements regarding his condition?" she asked as the waiter came back with their orders.

Sam cleared his throat, "I do...Well...It was odd...All of the men had...Tainted auras...They were...Polluted by something...As if poisoned...But the man who...Burst... His aura was far more disgusting...His aura seemed toxic to the very touch...The only thing I can liken it to is a Grimm...They seemed unresponsive...They seemed... Possessed...But the man who burst...I fought him, and...Something was wrong with him...He shouldn't have had the strength that he did...His reflexes were hyperactive...His aura seemed to swell more and more as the fight went on...Until it began to affect him, at which point a team came onto the scene to extract him...It seemed like this was the location of...A medical procedure of some sort...Maybe an experiment. The man who I fought was also the man who was sent in to alter the mark...He erased it, and that's when we caught him..." Sam explained.

Rachel nodded, "Yeah...When we caught him, I broke his hand with my whip...This whip should have destroyed every bone in his hand...Made it completely unusable but...When sam continued fighting him, his hand was repaired and working..." she continued for him. Goodwitch put her hand to her chin, considering this for a minute. Everyone let her do so, beginning their meal and putting their scrolls away, waiting for her to finish her thoughts.

"This is troubling...None of the other men had any sort of serum in their systems...They should recover completely...But..." she frowned, starting on her meal. A late night and late breakfast wasn't a good combination for her, but that didn't matter to her very much. She felt too stressed to care. Between the events with the communication tower, and this...Her week was busy, and it was almost difficult, even for her, to handle. She sighed, steeling herself as she continued the meal. She'd just have to tolerate this. The whole table ate in silence. It wasn't the best experience, especially for Rachel, but no one spoke up about it. When everyone was finally finished with the meal, Professor Goodwitch sighed again, "You kids should get going...At this point, there's little we can do but wait for whatever comes next...The other marks are gone...We can only hope they haven't been discouraged by this encounter..." she finished as the team stood. She waited for the waiter to bring the check over so she could pay.

"Uh...Professor...Who's they?" the twins asked together.

Goodwitch thought for a few moments before sighing again, "I honestly have no idea..." she muttered.

The team left the restaurant and began to climb into the car, in their usual spots...But when the doors closed, everyone simply sat in silence for a few minutes. No one knew what to do, exactly. They could go back to Sid's place...But what could they do there. The first one to speak up was Rachel. She had put the key in the ignition.

"Well?...Where to, Sam...You're our leader...What are we doing now..." she asked, sitting forward and putting her forward on the steering wheel, waiting. Sam couldn't think of what to do. He rubbed his forehead, trying to gather a thought on what to do. After a minute, he got a thought, and pulled his scroll out to look through the file Goodwitch gave them. After he considered the information for a minute, he came to a conclusion.

"Alright...I think...We have three options...One is to just go back to Sid's and wait...Two...We go to the place the prisoners are being held and talk to them ourselves...Third..." he paused for a minute, considering if this was even an option. The team looked to their leader, waiting patiently. "Option three is that we go after the remaining men who either got away...Or died...We try and find them...See what we can find out from them." he said. The car started...Sam looked around at his team. The twins wore smiles now, and Rachel had raised her head and smirked, pulling out of the parking lot. Sam chuckled, "Option three it is..." he said with a smile...

* * *

 

There was little sound except for the footsteps on metal, echoing in the trees as Sasha and Jay continued. Sasha sighed. She wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to take her sword out and destroy something...Make some noise...But she wasn't sure about that. One, they were trying to find the enemy, not be found themselves... Two, it was clear Jay wasn't in the best mood, and it was already hard enough dealing with him. Jay, however, was simply content with the silence...As it always did, it brought out the most level part of him, that walked the line between gold and red. It was obvious to him that Sasha wanted to fill the silence though...And he would just have to tolerate it when she did. After all, silence may have been his own preference, but he knew it wasn't his teammate's...

"So...It's obvious you want to end the silence..." Jay said, as Sasha began to twitch...He understood twitching under stress all too well, and wouldn't wish that on a teammate.

"Oh, uh...Yeah, I suppose it's obvious...What'dya want to talk about?" she asked, feeling a weight lift from her breathing. Jay simply shrugged. "Ok...Uh...Oh, I got a question..." she said suddenly, thinking of something she'd wanted to ask a while ago, but never remembered.

"Then I will try to provide an answer..." Jay responded, still looking ahead.

"So a while back, you said you used to string up the skins of grimm around a camp or in front of a cave because it warded off other Grimm...But how? Like...Grimm's bodies dissolve and all that..." she began, glancing at Jay every now and then.

"Oh, that...Well when I said that, it was both true, and misleading...I did string up their skins, but the Grimm...They weren't exactly dead...You see Grimm, lacking an aura, can't actually heal their bodies...Any injury is an injury for life...So I simply broke their spine so they were paralyzed, cracked their jaw so they couldn't bite, and crush their voice box so they couldn't call out for help...It's about a fifteen second process for each Grimm, and it took only ten minutes or less to tie them up afterwards...It was easy..." Jay answered, a smirk crossing his face as he thought back to all the times he'd done exactly that, in exactly that order.

Sasha stuttered for a few seconds, "They call  **those** things grim...Impressive, though...And another thing...You said yesterday...That you wanted to change the world...But what do you want to change it into? I mean I know we don't exactly live in the best world, but...And like...Especially with that...Uh...Other half...You think you can handle it?" Sasha asked.

Jay frowned at this, "You should know better...I also said that I see this world for what it is...I can see the truth...And really, Grimm...They're only a small piece of the problem...The real problem is us...Humans...Faunus...Our destructive and self destructive tendencies...It's too much...The Grimm don't even have to do anything, really...Just think about the oldest, strongest Grimm...They wait and they watch...They know that's all they have to do...We'll end up bringing ourselves down on our own...And all they have to do is be there to finish us off...That's what I want to change...And to be honest, I doubt even my darker mind can stop that goal...You still speak as if we're two different people...But really we're not...Two...One...Who cares...We're not two different people...We're a single experience...A fusion of mind and soul...We...I...Live for that purpose..." Jay answered, stopping as he pulled his scroll from his pocket. "This is the spot on the map where we're due to climb down..." he said as he replaced his scroll and walked to the edge. He and Sasha jumped casually from the edge, letting themselves drop to the ground, where they caught themselves with their aura. The map guided them farther into the forest from here, Jay on Sasha's left.

Before Sasha could say anything again, Jay interrupted her, "What about you? A knight...I can only think it has something to do with the candle...Skye, was it...From the dates printed on it, she died young...Too young...Is that why you want to become something so symbolic?" Jay asked, glancing sidelong at her.

Sasha nodded, rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying not to think about those memories, "Y-yeah...She was too young...She didn't deserve that...It took me months to even be functional after her death...After that, I spent the next few years in a blind rage...I don't like thinking about it...But I had an encounter one day with a huntress...Who put me in my place when she caught me trying to raid an armed faunus-oppression activist base, and made me realize what I had to do to honor Skye properly...I had to do more...The rest you know...Combat school, yada yada..." she finished, trying to forget the subject.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up painful memories...Hm...How about instead, I bring up a pleasant one...You remember the dance?" Jay said suddenly, changing the subject.

Sasha frowned, "Wait, what? Uh...Yeah, I remember the dance, what about it?" she asked suspiciously. They continued walking through the trees, hearing nothing but the echoes of their voices.

"Ha...Yes...Do you remember how many dance partners you went through?" Jay said, smiling and laughing a little. Suddenly Sasha understood...

"No, I don't...I think someone could have spiked the punch...How many was it?" she asked nonchalantly.

"I believe it was ten or so...For quite a while, too...Till half past two in the morning...I don't think any of them were very good anyway, so of course you'd never remember them..." Jay said, placing his hands behind his back and lacing his own fingers. Sasha nodded, and they suddenly stopped...Sasha pulled free her claymore without a second's warning and aimed to her right, diagonally in front of her...'At about half-past two' she thought to herself as she pulled the trigger. The man hadn't even hit the ground when the others jumped from the trees...Nine in total now.

Jay was no longer at Sasha's side, instead he'd dropped his bag and drawn his tonfas and already charged the first man to his back, slamming his elbow back against his head, jamming the claws on his tonfas into his temple and tossing him away. Sasha didn't let this distract her though, and instead leaned right, dodging the shots from two more of the foes, one male, the other female, and quickly re-aimed her shotgun, shooting down the woman gunner and jumping aside to slam her shoulder into the male, smashing him through the tree to his right. The tree fell on two more of them, crushing them and knocking them out.

Jay smiled as he leapt out of the path of another's slash, turning and landing on the man's shoulders, his smile turned more wicked, "Three." he muttered, slamming him to the ground and slamming the heel of his foot across his temple. Sasha turned and almost shot another when Jay's shot hit the woman down first. Jay turned and dashed close to the remaining two. The one closer to Jay couldn't move, or even raise his gun to Jay. Jay's smirk widened, "This one's weak...Poor kid..." he muttered, slamming both tonfas into his stomach, tossing him back, unconscious. The remaining man had already begun to fire on Jay, even though his ally, the one Jay had just knocked out, had been between them. But none of the shots connected...Jay had already moved. The man re-aimed towards Sasha, who turned and raised her sword against her side, blocking the shots. Suddenly, Jay reappeared next to him, grinning as he swung his staff, both tonfas clipped together, but still shortened. He swung wide like he held a bat, breaking the gun, then swinging again towards the man's chest, slamming him back against the tree. Before he slumped down to the ground, Jay grabbed his hands with the claws on the end of his tonfas, pulling him up again and pushing his back against the tree.

"Well look at that...One left..." Jay said as Sasha walked up next to him.

"You uh...You ok there, red eyes?" she asked tentatively. Jay laughed, closing his eyes and almost doubling over, still holding the man up by his hands, which were now bleeding down his arms.

"Ahahahahaha, yeah...Yeah, I'm fine...Oh man...Damn. This is so...So much fun..." he laughed, still grinning. Sasha sighed, looking around at the unconscious men and women...This was the only one still awake...Or alive.

"Alright, I guess we have to interrogate this one then..." Sasha said, taking one of the clamp sets from her backpack to bind the man. When she did, Jay released him and tossed him down on his side, still grinning widely, eyes bright red.

"That's ok...We've got time..." Jay said happily. He ignored his scroll in his pocket, but Sasha didn't.

"We uh...May not...Mickey just sent us a message to get back to the sentinel...Apparently there's been a breach at Vale...Grimm...She says we may be called back to handle it..." Sasha said, looking over the message.

"Naaah...There are plenty of other teams in the area...Plus, a few higher class teams have literally just gotten back from out of kingdom missions...They'll contain it...Tell Mickey we're busy with our new friend..." he commanded, grabbing the man by the chin, looking over his neck. Sasha sighed and typed away for a few seconds as Jay pulled the man up into a sitting position.

"Well now. I think it's time we had a nice talk about...Things..." Jay said, smiling and shrugging, "This and that...How many are there at the base...What are their arms status...What's the command structure..." he demanded happily, sitting crosslegged in front of the man.

The man's eyes narrowed, "You pathetic children...You don't have the skills to stop what's happening..." he growled, eyes filled with malice.

Jay laughed, smiling and tilting his head back, almost falling over, "Ok...I'm feeling...Just so entertained right now...So to be nice...I'm going to make this easy for you and let you chose...You've got three choices. Three offers. One...You answer our questions willingly and truthfully...And I can see when you lie..." he said, tapping his nose. He pointed back at Sasha, who stood behind him with her arms crossed, looking down at the man. "Two...This here's my friend Sasha...As you can clearly see...She has a  **very** large sword." he said happily. Sasha took the hint and immediately removed her sword again, slamming the head of the blade into the ground. "And she's very happy to use it. If you choose option two...She'll cut off a few limbs. It's not difficult...Her strength is more than enough...Oh don't worry, you won't die, we'll make sure of that. And when you're done bleeding, you can talk, or she'll cut off another limb..." he explained, smiling and laughing again, covering his face with a hand. Sasha groaned internally at his oddly dark giggling. "Option three..." Jay started as he pulled a hunting knife from his dufflebag, "I'll skin you alive...And you'll tell us then...But either way...I can see your soul...I can see every thought...You'll tell us...You can't help it...You're a worthless, pathetic little coward, aren't you...Furious, yes...But weak-willed..." he threatened, still smiling. Sasha sighed again, hoping he would just chose option one...

 

Nick and Anna walked silently through the trees. It had been difficult at first, but with a little practice, Nick had gotten back into the rhythm of his older step pattern, keeping his movement silent. And Anna had been adept at it from the beginning, and did it almost out of instinct...She smiled as she looked around at the trees, enjoying the forest.

"You know, this forest is beautiful without Grimm..." she muttered out loud.

Nick nodded, "Certainly...I can only guess there's no Grimm because of the raiders...Wiping them out...Odd...How long they've lasted..." he muttered in response. Anna breathed deeply, enjoying the smell of the air...It was clean...Being a cat faunus, her sense of smell was exceptional. Hyperactive by human standards, but not by faunus standards. She paused for a few seconds. "What's up?" Nick asked, noticing her glancing around.

"Nothing, I just...Thought I smelled..." she trailed off, breathing in deeply.

"Dust rounds?" Nick finished for her, taking a few sniffs of the air.

Anna's eyes widened as she turned to him, "Yeah, that's exactly right...How did you do that?" she asked as they continued walking.

Nick chuckled, "Ahh, Anna...I spent years as a thief, remember? A well-trained thief...I picked up on the ability to smell dust rounds when they were fired from a distance..." he answered quickly.

"Uh...O-ok...I didn't know that was something you could...Train yourself to do..." she said, feeling suspicious.

Nick nodded, "It's actually pretty easy for me now...For instance, I can smell the dust from Mickey's boots from here..." he said, breathing in deeply. Anna raised her eyebrows, unsure of how to respond.

After a few minutes of walking, Anna cleared her throat, "So...What was it like?...You know, being...A real thief...A recognized thief...A professional..." she asked.

Nick chuckled, "Recognized is the last thing you want to be as a thief...And that's what I was good at...It was kinda fun, to be honest...They say there's no honor among thieves, but...They were clearly working with the wrong people...I would pass cops on the street every day, some of whom knew who I was, others who just saw a kid...I was really good at reading people...Some clients I had never had the chance to see my face...If they had, I wouldn't be standing here today...I imagine it was much harder for you though..." he answered as they walked, looking around carefully.

"W-well it wasn't...Just me...It was my dad too...And no, it wasn't easy...We could barely show our faces in public every day, being faunus...But when the White Fang turned Red...Well it got easier...At least...We could go out in public...Sometimes...But we would have to watch carefully...Any store with a tv playing news stories, we couldn't enter...The Red Fang made headlines almost every day, and we were being respected, but it was clear people resented us for it...Back then, we had to carry a weapon with us no matter where we went...We crossed streets and took alternate roots whenever we saw police...Children are taught that police are friends...There to protect you...But it wasn't the same for faunus...We had to watch every step we took...My dad almost never left my side...And when he died...I had to continue learning on my own...Learning to keep safe...Using every skill he ever taught me..." she answered, fiddling with her hands...Nick glanced at her fidgety hands. It was obvious she wanted to reach for her axe...

"You know...You called me a pro earlier...But to be honest, I'm pretty sure you're the more accomplished thief here...You did more than just get by and stay hidden... You survived...When literally every last odd was against you...And now you're...A champion. Top of your class at Signal...Position at Beacon...And quite possibly the most powerful member of our team..." he said, making it look like he was just thinking out loud.

Anna smiled, "Thanks...But I've still got a long way to go..." she said to herself.

"We all do...But it's not like we're alone...As a thief who never had much support ever...It's a nice feeling...Makes things easier, doesn't it..." he said, intentionally putting his hand on top of her head, pulling her back and forth to distract her. Anna laughed and yanked his hand off.

"Stop that...Makes me feel short..." she said, but her smile remained.

Nick raised his hands, one just over her head, and the other just over his to indicate the height difference, "That's because you  **are** short..." he said, smirking. They continued walking, jokingly arguing about height differences. But after a few minutes, they both stopped short suddenly. Anna shuddered and groaned as she and Nick both looked into the trees...Two dozen Spidermonkey Grimm...Anna sighed...She'd always hated monkeys...These ones were even worse. Each had four arms and four legs, along with a long powerful tail, and fangs.

"Disgusting..." Anna muttered as she pulled the metal axehead from the staff. The metal shifted and formed a scimitar, while the staff immediately collapsed into the longsword, which remained sheathed. She held the scimitar in her right hand, and held it backhand, crouching into a battle stance. Nick had already drawn his gun, holding it in his right hand...It never made too much of a difference to someone with ambidextrous hands. But he prefered his left hand free for crushing and blasting. The spidermonkeys growled and chirped, jumping around, branch to branch. They weren't moving, as if waiting for something...And after a moment, it was clear what they were waiting for...The pack of beowulves that they'd lead there.

"Fucking...Mother...Fucker..." Nick muttered as he looked around at the Grimm. The beowulves had begun to growl and circle them, feeling the danger of their prey by instinct. But they wouldn't stay back for long...The trees shook as the spidermonkeys jumped around, waiting for the time to attack. Anna considered drawing her longsword, but if she did that, she'd have to change the weapon she was using now...It was hard for her to dual wield with a sword that heavy...But for this many opponents, her special new combination might be required...But it was too late for that now. The beowulves were the first to charge, coming in groups of two or three. Nick switched to the lightning cannister and fired bolts of electricity with the shots from his gun. The two that charged him were dead before they'd gotten two steps. Anna had to deal with three of them, however, and had to move in close to the one in the middle to make sure they didn't attack first. The two on the sides swung at her, but killed the middle beowulf as their attacks passed harmlessly through the illusion. Anna's attack stabbed through the chest of the Grimm to the right, tossing it back and immediately slashing the arm off the third, then cutting it's head clean off.

At this point, the spidermonkeys were now joining the fight along with the Grimm. In order to overpower their opponents, the Grimm were now attacking as a single pack. Nick and Anna struggled to keep up with them, now trying to use eachother to support the other. Anna had to toss her scimitar to Nick so she could draw her longsword with both hands. While in his hands, two spidermonkeys fell dead to the blade before the blade was passed back to Anna, which formed her scythe again, allowing her to grab the staff and swing without mercy. The Grimm began to fall faster, but as they continued killing the creatures as they came, they quickly realized that there were far more Grimm than they'd seen at first.

"Anna, I'm getting low on dust...We must have killed four dozen of these things already...Why are they still coming..." Nick said, moving to Anna's back and covering her, ducking her wide swings, letting her grab onto him and use him as a vantage point to cover more of their area.

Anna sighed, shaking her head, "I...Don't know...So many...We can't hold out against attacks like this...My aura's already down..." she responded, breathing a little heavier. Her axe became a little more difficult to swing with every stroke...The Grimm bore down upon them again in waves, slashing and biting, never getting too close...But once the second wave hit, they got closer. Anna and Nick had to put more aura into defense...Nick and Anna shared the same thought as they continued fighting...They wouldn't make it past wave two...Suddenly though, the air was filled with a crisp smell. They stopped suddenly at the break in the air, which until then was filled with the remains of Grimm, quickly evaporating, which made the air seem putrid. It snapped through their lungs, taking them by surprise. They both smiled brightly as a light green twister enveloped them, and through the winds, they could hear nothing...Not even the cries of the Grimm, being sliced to pieces by a sickle sharp wind storm. They both sighed, breathing in the clean air and sitting down as the winds died down, revealing Mickey, standing tall, arms crossed over her chest.

"Fuck...Are we glad you got here when you did, Mickey..." Nick said with a laugh.

Mickey sighed with a smile, "You kids...Gettin' into shit like this...You're lucky I could locate you with the Sentinel...We're out far enough so that we have pretty much zero connection without it...I was wondering why you two weren't picking up your scrolls..." she said, pulling out her own and displaying the message she'd sent them. Anna and Nick shared a glance and pulled out their scrolls...Sure enough, one new message.

"Oh, uh...I guess we didn't notice it, what with the uh...Y-you know..." Anna said, putting her scroll away. "Wait...What about Jay and Sasha? Where are they?" she asked.

"Sasha sent me a message saying they had procured a hostage and were going to try and get some info out of him...Apparently Jay's having a good time with that...Sounds worrisome...Either way, we got to go see if we can find them..." she said, putting away her scroll and offering them her hands, pulling them onto their feet. "You know...You two may have had an easier time...If you'd bothered to drop your bags..." she muttered with a smirk. Both Nick and Anna's eyes got wide as they realized she was right...Their bags still remained on their back. They laughed nervously as Mickey sighed again and shook her head, still smiling and pushing her glasses up on her nose. They turned and started trotting through the forest, moving a bit more quickly as Anna and Nick got their breath and aura back, moving towards the place on Mickey's map that showed Jay and Sasha's scrolls. But before they got within a kilometer, Jay and Sasha's scrolls started moving in their direction. Mickey waved for them to slow down a little until Jay and Sasha caught up. It only took them a few minutes to find Mickey. They walked through the trees, Jay smiling a bright smile and Sasha looking like a combination of sick and annoyed.

Jay sighed, still smiling, "I feel  **much** better." he said casually, laughing a little and stretching. Everyone paused for a few moments...

"Hey...Uh...Jay, is that blood on your shoe?" Nick said, pointing down at Jay's sneakers. Jay raised an eyebrow and looked down, then sighed and brushed his shoe off on the grass.

"Ugh...I hate having blood on my clothes..." he muttered.

"Not so friendly persuasion?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning against a tree.

Jay laughed again, "Option three is really a great way to release stress...Anyway, boy do we have some info to share with you guys..."

* * *

 

Sam sighed as he climbed back out of the van. After retracing their steps for hours, only to finally realize the van must have gotten back on the freeway, team SCRT had finally located the Van. Why it was taken near the border of the kingdom was questionable...But the worst part was that this scene, like all the others, had been completely sanitised. Not so much as a stain of blood. Sam knew that for sure...He could smell blood. The twins trotted up the alley from the sidewalk and stood at attention before Sam.

"Well?..." he asked. The twins shook their heads. "Fuck...We found the van though...Where are-...Hm..." he said, putting his hand to his chin. The twins waited patiently while he thought. He sat down on the edge of the van's open side door before pulling out his scroll and sending a quick message to Professor Goodwitch...She'd have to check the scene herself. The twins looked through the inside of the van themselves for a few minutes before climbing into the front seats. Sam sat with his hands laced together, pointer fingers up and pressed against his lips. He thought about what they could do to track down anyone who was in this van...

"They would have been injured...They would have had to clean up this alley...Or did someone else do that...They should have sought out medical attention...I wonder if they'd be like the cases before...Amnesia...Hm..." Sam muttered to himself. He sighed, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. He wished Rachel was there. But she had taken the car and driven around the area to search for anything even the slightest bit out of place. No word from her about anything though...Sam suddenly sat up as the van shook and started up. He turned to see Chris and Tia in the front seats. Chris' baton had provided electricity to jump start the welded wires that Tia had used her baton for. They looked back happily at Sam and smiled bright smiles.

"Get in and close the door...Let's see if we can't get anyone's attention." they said together. Sam stood up and looked over the van.

"W-wait a minute, did you guys just hotwire this thing? How do-...Uh...Nevermind...But we can't...Not before Goodwitch has a chance to come in and examine the area..." he insisted.

"Oh please...These guys have never left anything before, and now this whole area's been sanitized like the rest of them...There's nothing to find..." Tia answered herself.

"Yeah...So let's go on a trip around the area and see if we can't stir anyone up...If they're still nearby, which they should be, with their injuries and all, then the van could get a reaction...We'll watch for any suspicious people..." Chris continued.

"And besides, Rachel's off with our ride..." Tia added.

"So really, it's our only logical option," they insisted together with another mischievous smirk. Sam sighed and reluctantly climbed into the van, closing the sliding door behind him as the Tia, in the driver's seat, backed out of the alley and drove off. This was the van who'd been driven off the road during their encounter, but it was in great condition. The sides had been buffed, polished, and painted...

"You two sound like you're trying to convince me to do something illegal...Speaking of which, this van is unmarked...No plates or registration...We're gonna get pulled over..." Sam pointed out as they drove, keeping the speed limit and watching the streets carefully.

"Relax...If we're pulled over, we'll give Goodwitch a ring, show em our credentials and be on our way..." Chris comforted. But it didn't comfort Sam much...He sighed as they drove. The van had only one other window, on the side opposite the sliding door. He could barely see through the tinted glass, and after a few seconds, gave up. "Hey Sam, you told us this morning you could like...Smell the aura from those guys, right? And it smelled...Poisoned? Or poisonous? I don't know, but maybe you could smell them?" Chris said from the front seat, now leaning forward and looking around at the people they passed.

Sam undid the clips on the window and opened it up to let the rushing air in through the crack that the window provided, "That is possible...Good idea..." Sam said to Chris, moving over a seat to be closer to the window.

"How can you smell aura anyway? I thought your semblance was just taking it from others, right?" Tia said as she watched the street with her brother. Using their semblance, it was easy for them to multitask driving with watching for suspicious behavior.

"Oh, well I've never really told anyone but Rachel, but my semblance goes a great deal further than that...My semblance is Total Vampyrism...If I need to heal a part of my body, I can take those things from others and integrate them into my aura to help me repair my own body...I can take the bones of others to heal my own bones...But it...Harms the person I'm taking from...Obviously...But it doesn't work if the bone I take is also damaged, so I'm in tune with the auras and bodies of others to make sure what I'm taking is healthy...If I had tried to take aura from those people yesterday, it would have poisoned me...Not alot of people know that about me...I've told Rachel...I probably should have told you two sooner, what with us being on a team and such..." he answered, speaking up over the wind. The twins shared a frightened look for a second before turning back to the road.

"W-wow...We never would have guessed that...It's impressive, if not scary..." Chris said back to him, carefully watching the road.

"You two aren't speaking together today...What's wro-" he stopped suddenly as he smelled something in the air. "WAIT, STOP!!!" he yelled. Tia's reflexes acted immediately, and she stopped the car. Her twin's reflexes, ever as quick, made him snap the buckle over himself immediately as she hit the brakes. The van came to a screeching halt and the twins waited for Sam. "Pull over, I smell something." he commanded. Tia nodded and pulled over to the sidewalk immediately, through the honks from angry drivers behind her. Sam dashed out of the van and ran around to the sidewalk, looking over the side of a building, a thrift store. He sniffed at the air as the twins got out and walked up next to him. "They were here...I bet they left another mark right here...And then...They..." he stopped and turned, running down the alley next to the spot he smelled them. The twins dashed after him.

"Sam, care to clue us in..." they demanded, sending a quick homing signal to Rachel's scroll so she could find them. Suddenly Sam stopped and turned, jumping over a fence and crossing into the street on the other side. The twins also stopped dead in their tracks...As the Kingdom's alarm system began to blare all around them. People began to run down the street, shouting in terror...They were followed by Grimm. "How did Grimm make it into the kingdom!!!" the twins shouted together.

Sam shook his head, "Irrelevant...Our job is to protect people from these creatures. Suit up. Let's get to work." he said as he ran against the crowds, his exoskeleton already snapping over his body as he ran. The twins ran after him, pulling out their batons and swinging them in a quick circle in their hands, priming the dust inside. They quickly passed the line where the people ended, and the Grimm began. Sam slammed his heel into the ground and threw his palm out, smashing the skull of an ursa that tried to tackle him down. The force of his blow was so great, it threw the creature back into a small Creep grimm, and the Ursa's weight killed the creature. The twins immediately moved left and right of a Deathstalker, leaping over the snapping pincers and sweeping their batons under it's legs, breaking them and planting the thing in the ground. A common Taijitu moved towards Tia on the right, but she immediately turned and swung with both batons, snapping it's teeth out and catching them, dropping one baton. She turned and tossed one fang to her brother, who also dropped a baton, and in perfect sync, they jammed the fangs into the head of the Deathstalker, killing it. Unable to even bite, the Taijitu tried to retreat. Before it could, it was caught in the skull by one of Sam's scimitars, which he'd thrown with enough force to go through the whole head. Chris and Tia took up their batons again as Sam jumped over the attacks of more Creeps to retrieve his second sword. In a few minutes, Rachel's car screeched around a corner, running over a beowulf as she climbed out and joined her team in combat. She ran up behind Sam to give him support.

"The Grimm got this far, huh..." she said as she snapped her whip out at an Ursa.

"This far?" Sam yelled in question.

"Yeah...There's a breach near the border of the Kingdom, a kilometer from here...They've been chasing people through the city...Team CFVY has already arrived and is containing it, and Atlas support is also dropping in...They've made a perimeter so far that we're still inside of...Let's clear out this area quickly..." she explained as the twins toppled a Nevermore from the sky, then jumped off it's back and ran to handle more. They ran after a small pack of people who'd just ran around the corner, a pack of beowulves on their heels. The twins tried to get their as quick as possible, but they stopped when the beowulves ran right past them. It was as if those people weren't even visible to them. They raised their eyebrows at eachother and dashed forward, immediately agreeing. Chris would kill the Grimm...Tia would round up those men. Luckily for them, this small pack of beowulves were the last of the strays to make it to this particular street. When they were dead, Sam and Rachel ran over to Tia and Chris, who now walked in circles around the men. Sam immediately recognized why...Their aura was toxic. The same as the night before. They all wore shotty used clothing...Which connected in Sam's head...

He walked up and grabbed the sleeve of one of the men, who held his hands up with the rest, "Huh...Second-hand clothing...The kind you'd get at say...A thrift store...Lose your black clothing there..." he muttered, nodding his head. Suddenly he wrapped both hands around the man's neck and lifted him from the ground, making sure not to impede his speech, "What else did you leave. You left one of those marks there too, didn't you...Who's watching out for those marks. Who is it you were guarding...What happened. Spill your guts or I'll spill them for you." he demanded, letting his fury show for the first time since Initiation. The twins paused, sharing a concerned look as they moved closer together, letting Rachel handle the gaps. No one would escape her whip. The man struggled, swinging his legs, but kept his hands in the air. Sam shuddered. It was difficult even being this close to such a putrid aura. It wasn't nearly as bad as the man he'd fought the night before, but it was awful nonetheless. The man didn't speak though, and barely coughed as Sam held him up.

"Samuel. Put him down, immediately." Professor Goodwitch shouted suddenly. She marched angrily towards the team. It was bad enough that she'd been having a shitty week already, and now she had to put everything down to go repair a breach in the Kingdom that was letting Grimm into the city, before going to deal with this. Every problem seemed to compound the next, and it made her furious. Sam, who saw this fury, immediately choked down his own and dropped the man. "What do you think you're doing to a civilian." she growled as she marched up to them.

"These aren't civilian's, professor...These are the men who were there that night...They escaped in the van and ditched their clothing at a nearby thrift store before finding a place to lay low..." Chris said immediately, picking up on Sam's cues from earlier.

"We wager they were trying to find a place to dispose of their weapons when the Grimm attacked. Bad timing on their part drove them right into our hands..." Tia finished for her brother, picking up on his thoughts. Professor Goodwitch was at least a little relieved they weren't speaking together. The men who stood before her were unmoving and cold but didn't look vacant. Instead, their expressions were now worried...She thought for a minute. How could these men, supposedly comatose, come up with such a thought-out plan...It didn't make sense. She pulled out her scroll and signalled on of the Atlassian Drop Ships to come take the men into custody until they could be sorted out. The drop ship, with one human pilot and one android pilot, was there within two minutes, and a small group of Elysium Knights took the men into the ship, which took off immediately. The professor turned to the group and sighed.

"Thank you...If you kids hadn't called me to check out that site, I wouldn't have been in the area, and the death toll could have been even higher...Given everything that's happened today, I recommend you go get some rest..I'll call you with any information we uncover from here." the professor said half-heartedly before turning and walking off. She sighed to herself, not looking forward to the meetings that would come of this event...The council had already been displeased with some of the things they'd heard happening in Vale...This wouldn't be good for Ozpin.

Sam sighed and looked around at his team. They all looked more than a little done with this day. He looked at Rachel, "Call your sister...Tell her to come get her car...We've got another mode of transport...And it's a little more sturdy..." he requested. Rachel looked back at Grace's car before dialing her up on her scroll, following Sam as he and the twins lead her back to the black van they'd taken. At first, Rachel almost climbed into the front seat before she remembered she was no longer the driver. Instead, Tia, who drove last time, took passenger's seat, and Sam drove. Rachel sat in the back, behind Sam, and Chris behind Tia. It took them a little while to get back to the parking lot outside the cafe, where they had decided to park their vehicles from then on. They walked back to Sid's apartment, but as they passed through the lobby, the man at the front desk stopped them and waved them over. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his desk and looked between the twins.

"Uh...W-which one of you is...Tia?" he asked tentatively. Tia took the note from his hands and opened it. 'Key's above the door, let yourselves in make yourselves at home, be back soon with stuff to stock the fridge/cupboards...XX' the note read. She thanked the manager and they walked up to the third floor where Sid's room was. As the note said, the key was tucked onto the top of the doorhenge out of sight. The team opened the door and walked into Sid's apartment. There was now a seat that hadn't been there before though...A large chair that matched the couch, big enough for two people. Sam and Rachel took that seat while Chris and Tia sat down on the couch. 

"Alright...Let's go over what we know..." Sam said immediately, leaning back in the chair and looking up at the cieling.

"We know that one of those men died from some powerful serum that poisoned him...Maybe it wasn't meant to poison him? Maybe it was all a big test?" Chris answered first. Sam nodded for them to continue.

"We know that all of them had some toxic aura...And that the men who were taken into custody no longer remember what they were doing during that time. In fact, they all seem to have some other memories from that exact same night...Maybe they were hypnotized or something..." Tia continued for her brother.

"I'm not sure about hypnosis, that seems a little far-fetched...Those men seemed like they were under some sort of anesthetic...Perhaps it was a drug of somesort...It had a terrible affect on their aura though, so it could have been a Semblance...But what semblance would have power like that, I have no idea...And honestly, I'm not sure I want to know...But what's more, these men weren't any sort of professionals...They weren't trained in this stuff...According to the files, we have IDs for all of them, and...They're civilians. With no records. No past of suspicious behavior. They're all generally regarded by those close to them as routine and sound-minded..." Rachel continued. She stopped however when the door opened and Sid walked in, bags in tow. Sam immediately jumped up to help Sid carry the bags to the kitchen as she looked around at the group.

"So...What's goin' on? More super-sexy huntsman/huntress bis?" she asked casually as she began putting things away into the cupboards and refrigerator.

"Just goin' over the facts..." Sam answered as he sat back down next to Rachel.

"You like that seat? Just had it brought in this morning...Adds some great room, doesn't it...Oh sorry, shouldn't distract you guys..." she said, pausing and making a motion across her lips like she was zipping them up.

"No no, it's ok...And yes, we love the seat...And going back to what Rachel said, she's right...All normal civilians...More than that, actually...None of them have ever had the slightest affiliations with Beacon or Signal or any hunter's academy...None of them have ever been outside the kingdom...And the oddest detail is that none of them have ever had any contact with eachother...They passed the polygraphs...They've never seen any of the others they were with...It's like suddenly they were all plucked from their lives and suddenly for a single night became deadly killers, then forgot about it again..." Sam added finally. Sid walked over and gently picked up Mr. Gump from his island, then went and sat down next to Tia on the couch, leaning back and placing the tortoise on her lap. He wandered around carelessly while they continued talking.

"Ok, so you've got men who don't seem to have any connections, but that's not really true...You guys have just listed off their connections..." Sid spoke up, touching Mr. Gumps back gently with her fingertips. Everyone looked at her in question. "Uh...Civilians...No affiliations with combat schools...Routine-based people...Never left the kingdom...It seems like they were randomly selected, but if you ask me, that's a pattern. This was anything but random..." she continued, answering their glances and turning Mr. Gump around on her lap so he wouldn't fall.

"And now, we've got five men in custody, all supposedly with their memories..." Tia continued, putting an arm around Sid's shoulder.

"Alright, but what I find weird...Is that the Grimm...Didn't attack them...Didn't even notice them...Passed em by like they were...Like they were also Grimm...And you said it yourself, right Sam? They smelled like humanized Grimm...Maybe the Grimm could smell it too...And let me ask you...Who do we know...That experimented on Grimm...Learned how to make em act differently...And who also had affiliations with someone who knew drugs well...Like, persay...A drug that could make someone superpowered...But then poisoned them..." Chris continued, leaning forward and looking around at the team, waiting for them to get it. Tia suddenly leaned forward too, catching on immediately. Sam thought about it for a few seconds, but then Rachel's eyes widened and she looked up at him. It suddenly struck him like a snap from Rachel's whip. Once everyone realized it, Chris nodded, "And...Who did team JNAS say was warning us about something that we wouldn't be able to fight..." he said finally. Before anyone could speak up, Sam's scroll rung. He pulled it out and saw the professor's caller ID. He looked up and answered it, putting it on speaker phone and setting it on the table.

"What's up, Professor...Any info?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes...The men we interrogated each said a few random words before they all...Suddenly collapsed...They're in critical condition, and we're not sure they'll wake up...We've taken what they said and arranged it, and we've concluded that it's all a single message...It took a little while to piece together the odd mix of words, but we're pretty sure we know what they were trying to convey..." she said, her voice filling the room with a sense of foreboding.

"Uh...W-what was the message?" Sam asked, looking around at his team. The line was silent for a few seconds before they hear the professor sigh.

"They said...'Their time is up...We've lost too much...There's no running now...They will never escape...Their blood will rain.'"

* * *

 

The group sat quietly on the train tracks, waiting for the call from Alice. After walking back to the railroad while Jay explained the info he got, they quickly climbed up and got comfortable. They sat around the Sentinel to make sure they had a signal when Alice called with the verdict. Whether or not they'd be called back to Beacon or not to help contain the breach...Everyone already had a suspicion that the answer would be no. Jay and Anna laid down, backs against his dufflebag, arms behind their heads, feet crossed. Nick and Sasha sat up, however, back to back. Nick was messing with the functions on his scroll while Sasha simply enjoyed looking out over the forest. Nick glanced back at Sasha for a few seconds, then over to Jay, thinking.

"So...Jay didn't really skin that guy, did he?" he asked nervously.

Sasha glanced back at him, "Not all of him, no...Just his hands and feet...Said something about lots of nerve endings, but I was too disgusted to pay attention...He taped the guys mouth shut and did it one limb at a time though, demanding he talk between each one...I'm surprised the guy was resilient enough to last through all four...But sprinkling fire dust on them afterwards was too much for him, apparently because damn did he talk...Wouldn't shut up for ten minutes straight until he passed out..." Sasha answered, matching Nick's whispering.

"That's like...Damn...We can't let him do that next time..." Nick said quietly, shaking his head.

Sasha scoffed, "Ha. Yeah,  **you** get in his way when he's all giggly and evil sounding." she retorted, keeping the whisper and looking out for Grimm now.

"Ugh...He's not supposed to be evil. None of us are evil...Good info, but...Seriously...He shouldn't like getting info that way..." he said quietly.

"Hey, you should probably talk to him about it if you're so opposed to it...I mean really, it's a little harsh to start labelling like that..." she said back. She stopped speaking however when Mickey's scroll rung.

"Alice? What's the situation?" she said immediately, without even checking who it was. There was silence for a few moments before she nodded. "Alright...Good... Thank you...Oh, hey...Remember tomorrow morning's lesson is canceled...And if you could, call my brother to make sure the shop is gonna be supplied...And also, remember the deliveries tomorrow, ok?" she said, barely letting Alice get out 'yes' between each statement. After a minute more of this, during which Mickey visibly struggled to find excuses to keep Alice on the phone, they finally hung up with an "I love you..." Mickey turned to see the faces of the team smiling at her in amusement. She couldn't help but smile herself, "What's funny? You know what, doesn't matter...An Atlassian Drop Ship will be coming by silently to pick up the recon squad Jay and Sasha took out. Now come on kids...Time to get going...We've got some ground to cover." she demanded immediately, sweeping her arms in gesture to get them up. In two seconds, everyone was up, bags in hand. Mickey shook her head, "You uh...You'll want to leave those here with the sentinel...Grab all the dust you'll need and meet me on the ground." she commanded as she grabbed her bag and stepped to the edge of the railing and dropped to the ground.

Her heels, refilled with wind dust, were swept up in a small vortex as she landed. She leaned back against the large pillar and waited for the team to drop down next to her. It didn't take long. Anna was first, followed by Jay, then Sasha, and finally Nick. Having to refill his cartridges of course took longer than the others. When everyone was present, Mickey nodded and started out into the forest at a light trot. But even at this, the team had to move much more quickly just to keep up.

"So Mickey...What uh...What're we doing now?" Anna asked, already suspecting the answer.

"We're gonna sweep the raider's fortress...You and I are gonna go in alone. Jay, Sasha, Nick, you three will be guarding the perimeter...Let me explain...I once went on a mission in this hunting castle...It's very  **very**  well stocked...But it got overtaken with Grimm years back...The above-ground entrances are now blocked off and reinforced...So we don't want to use those...Instead, we'll use..." she trailed off.

"The escape tunnels..." Jay picked up for her, dodging around a tree as he ran.

"Correct...There are...Or were, seven of them in total. One on each of the underground floors, each leading to a different location on the forest, varying distances from the fortress...Of these seven, only four are still in operation..." she explained as she started to slow down intentionally.

"What happened to the other three? Why aren't they usable?" Sasha asked. This time, Mickey looked over at Nick, raising an eyebrow. Sasha followed her gaze as they ran, carefully making sure she didn't run through the rose bush in her path.

"Well...Uh...Hm..." Nick thought for a few seconds, thinking back to every escape tunnel he'd ever used as an entrance point...Then it hit him, "They were buried... Explosives?" he offered, looking to Mickey. Mickey smiled and nodded, tapping her nose as she came to a stop.

"The tunnels were designed to be large and easy to transport things through, or even drive a transport vehicle through...And they were also designed with explosives along them...To make sure nothing could follow you out or back in...Three of them met that fate...Including the one we want to use...The seventh one, at the very bottom...We'll be going in at the bottom and sweeping upward..." she said, looking to Anna. Mickey looked through the trees, sneaking around from tree to tree, with the team following her example. A break in the treeline up ahead revealed a large mound of earth, guarded by three men. "That's the one we want...The seventh floor tunnel..." she said, smiling.

"But wait, if these tunnels are blocked off, why are we using it? And why are they guarding it?" Anna asked, moving over by Mickey.

"Because this is still an entrance to the bottom floor, where they would keep all the best goodies...And any force, however small, ready to infiltrate a castle like this would be ready to get through it, even blocked off. I'm pretty sure our opponent is a huntsman...And I suspect he has guards placed on  **all** the tunnels..." she said, then waved Nick over to her. Nick snuck up beside her and looked through the trees at the three men. "You and Jay are gonna go take care of them...Then you're gonna use your earth dust cartridge to open up the tunnel...I'm prepared for the other blocks..." Mickey said, nudging him and gesturing towards Jay. Jay sighed and stepped forward with Nick, who nodded to him. They approached slowly and watched the men look back and forth through the trees.

"Only three? Boring...You can have em..." he said quickly.

"Well I won't be torturing them...But thanks..." he retorted. Jay growled a little and jumped up, climbing into the tree. When he got close, he looked through the brush towards the men, identifying their weapons. He glanced around, wishing he could just ask Jay to use his semblance, but Jay had disappeared. He groaned and looked at the men again.

Suddenly Jay's head hung next to his, upside down, looking through the trees at the men, "Hey..." he muttered suddenly. Nick gasped and nearly slapped Jay, who hung upside down by his legs on a high up branch. The men heard his gasp though and immediately drew their weapons. One of them stood on the mound, drawing two short swords. The other two men pulled out large rifles, similar to those modified by huntsman for hunting Grimm. Training weapons...Nick already knew they had been filled with live rounds, however. "Hey Nick...You're forgetting something..." he whispered. Nick glared at him, mouthing the word "what..." Jay smirked, "These men are very on-edge, aren't they...Perhaps you should act quickly. After all, don't you think they've been ordered to call into the base if anything... **Suspicious happened?!** " he said, intentionally saying the last two words loud enough to be heard through the trees. The man with the twin swords, who was obviously the leader of this party, had already sheathed one and was reaching for a scroll as the other two pointed their guns towards the tree Nick and Jay hid behind.

Nick's eyes widened as he immediately drew both his gun and sword. Forced to act, Nick immediately aimed and fired towards the scroll, miraculously destroying it. The smile he had didn't last long though as the men with guns turned towards Nick. Nick had already put his gun back into the holster though, and aimed a blast of lightning at the first man, holding back to make sure he didn't kill him. The second man almost fired, when he was shot down by Jay, who had leaned forward to aim at him from around the tree. Even from here, Nick could see the giggly smile on his face. The final man had drawn his second sword and dashed to meet Nick. But that wouldn't last...He placed the palm of his prosthetic arm on the panel of his blade, filling the blade with lightning dust. Electricity buzzed down the blade as he struck out at the man from above. The man instinctively crossed his swords above his head to block, but the lightning flashed down the metal and struck the man, flowing through his body, which twitched for a second before he fell unconscious. Nick sighed and turned as Jay trotted happily up to the scene, giggling. 

"Dick move, bro. Dick move." he said seriously, dragging the man from the mound as the rest of the team came from the trees.

"Sorry...Hehehe, I just had to bite back for that line about torturing..." he said immediately, nudging the man he'd shot with his foot. He glanced over at the destroyed comm, "I'm shocked you actually made that shot..." he muttered.

Nick nodded, "I didn't expect to either...But hey, trick shots are boss shots..." he said back as the team walked over. Mickey sighed and stepped up to Jay, smacking the side of his head with her palm. Jay growled for a moment and walked over to Anna.

"Alright Nick, if you please..." Mickey said, waving her arms in a wide arc.

"Uh...You know, if I had someone helping control the dust, I could actually use this whole cartridge and clear out the whole tunnel for you..." he offered. Everyone went silent and stared at him for a few seconds. "...What?...I've got skills..." he said, defending himself from their stares.

Mickey stepped forward, "Alright, what do you need?" she asked. Nick grabbed her hands and faced away from her, placed them on his shoulders and kneeling, placing his left palm on the ground and breathing in deeply, switching to the earth dust canister. The mound of dirt began to shake and crack, crumbling away to the sides of the tunnel, forcing it's way through cracks in the walls, opening the first length of the tunnel. Nick groaned as he unleashed more of the dust in the cartridge. At this point, Mickey synchronized her aura to his, easing his struggle to control the flow of dust through the earth. His scroll activated in the hatch on his arm, amping up the nerves in his arm, which interacted with his aura more easily with Mickey's help, so he could feel through the earth with the dust he controlled. Slowly, the earth rumbled gently, once after another, clearing out the obstacles.

Nick began to breath heavily, still feeling the exhaustion from the earlier encounter with the Grimm. Even with the amount of aura he had, often considered equal in quantity to fully trained huntsman, it was intensely difficult for him to garner this level of control. Fifteen minutes passed before Nick stood, a little shakily, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, sitting down as Mickey walked around him, looking into the tunnel. The destroyed and twisted remains of the one and a half foot titanium door lay forgotten on the floor of the tunnel. She sighed and looked as far into the tunnel as she could, remembering exactly how long this tunnel was. She glanced at Anna, who was currently giving a long kiss to her boyfriend.

"Hey...Finish up and get ready, we gotta do this. Quick and painless." she said, getting them to part. Jay nodded and smiled, squeezing Anna's hands again before she walked over besides Mickey and leapt down into the tunnel. They landed on the mangled door before Mickey turned back to the three remaining teammates, "You three...I've already sent you a map of the surrounding area, modified to show the tunnels and their exits...Sweep over them quickly and keep a careful watch... And by the way, don't split up...Nick, you've had an especially rough time, so you'll need the support, and besides, you're all far more dangerous together than apart. Remember, once we're down here, we won't be able to contact you guys, and vice versa..." she talked up to them.

Jay smirked, "Don't worry, if we get into a pinch, we'll just use this for a distraction..." he said, pulling out a small remote.

Mickey raised an eyebrow, "Where'd you get a detonator? Oh yeah...I remember now..." she said, recalling the squad they took out.

Jay laughed to himself, "After all, I didn't just chose to torture that specific guy because he was a killer or an enemy...I chose him because he was the leader of that squad, and would have the information I wanted...I just took this off of him when he passed out...Just remember not to take the tunnel on the fourth floor..." he answered anyway, more for the benefit of Nick and Anna.

Mickey nodded again, "Alright...Good luck you guys...Remember to be careful...Don't go dying..." she called back as she and Anna turned and walked down the tunnel. After a few minutes the two were completely entrenched in the darkness of the tunnel. Mickey sighed and reached into her bag, fumbling for a few seconds before suddenly the tunnel was filled with light. Anna held up a dust-powered glow stick, which lit up the tunnel for almost twenty yards around them. She smiled and handed it to Mickey, "Thanks Anna..." she said as they continued. Anna sighed, shivering once in the cold tunnel, reaching back and taking the shifting metal from the end of her staff. As they walked, Mickey watched her mess with the forms, having it shift from a heavy gauntlet to a small circular shield, which then shifted into a large three spoked shuriken that was attached to her wrist, before shifting again to to a scimitar. After a few minutes, she caught Mickey staring.

"Oh, uh...Yeah, this is...W-well you know Grant, right?...Yeah, this is his work...Jay and I spent hours watching the crafting and dust work..." she answered her stares. After a few minutes of silence, during which the only interruptions were the echoes of their footsteps, Mickey sighed again as she looked at one of the places where one of the bombs had destroyed the tunnel. She frowned as they walked over the leftover dirt from the blast. "Uh...Hey Mickey...You said you went on a mission at this castle, right? So...Do you know what happened here?" Anna asked casually, looking around the wide tunnel.

Mickey nodded, "Yeah, I do know...It's uh...Not the most pleasant memory...My team and I, that is, Team STRM...Of which I was the leader, came here on a special mission after graduation...We uh...Actually...I...Made a big mistake though...We took on a Grimm we were ill prepared for...You uh...Ever hear of a Draco grimm?" she asked, after pronouncing her team name as "Storm."

"Uh...Y-yeah...They like to sleep in warm caves that are made warm with naturally growing fire crystals...They uh...Chew up the fire crystals and swallow them so they can breath fire...And they can control other Grimm..." Anna answered, thinking back to everything she'd read on the incredibly rare Grimm.

"Yup...All of that is true...And this one...Uh...We never really found out what happened to it...The one we were sent to hunt...Was way too powerful. We barely got away from the first encounter with our lives...Heh...You'd think we knew better, taking on something of that magnitude...But uh...It overwhelmed us completely... When we got back to the base...We barely had an hour before the Grimm chased us down...It broke into the castle with an army of Grimm behind it...So...My team and I sealed down the underground bunker...But that didn't stop the Grimm...He basically unloaded every bit of fire dust he had and broke into the bunker...We escaped through the tunnels, but...One of our teammates...Sol Reverene...He got trapped in a supply room, thank gods, by the Grimm...But the power went out before he could get to the tunnel, and was sealed in...We never saw him again...Nor did we see any of the other personnel that worked here...We looked for weeks..." Mickey answered, hanging her head at the memory, frowning and reaching up with her free hand to rub the bridge of her nose, nudging her glasses up.

Anna took the glowstick from Mickey's hand, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring that up...I uh..." But Mickey waved her hand to stop her, replacing her glasses and nodding.

"I-it's ok. It's in the past...To be honest, I always worried about Sol...He had osteoporosis, and I'm shocked he was ever able to get into Beacon, even with medication. He was always easily the weakest member of our team...Despite the incredibly sizable power of the weapon he wielded, and his very **very** powerful Semblance...He always ran behind...He could never stand up for himself...But even though he was weak...Or maybe because of it, he was an incredibly angry and aggressive person. He cried alot and tried to keep himself to himself...We tried to be close to him, we really did...And sometimes I'd almost believe he was trying to open up to me, but...He stayed shut in. I'm surprised he was able to graduate with us..." Mickey explained as they picked up their pace, moving more quickly towards the bunker.

Anna thought for a few seconds, "I've read books like that before...Have you thought of the possibility that he's the leader of these raiders?" she asked casually, trying to lighten the mood.

Mickey chuckled, "That would be rich...But I wouldn't put it past him...He always liked to stand behind people and try and control them...If he did manage to survive...Then he could very well have started all of this simply out of malice alone..." she paused however when they stopped before a large mound of dirt..."Alright...This is it...We didn't clear this one out because it was the last one...We suspect there are guards in the room beyond this door. Sweep the room and take them out quickly, understood?" she said as she stepped forward and removed a small light blue disc from her bag. She placed it on the mound of dirt and pressed the button in the center. In a bright flash and a sudden drop in temperature, the entire mound of dirt was frozen into a block of ice. "I'm going to destroy this in one attack...The attack will be large enough to crack the door as well...When the door is cracked, slip in and do it." she commanded. Anna nodded and kneeled down, having the metal from the axe-head form claws that gripped the floor in preparation for Mickey's wind attack.

"Let's get this done." Anna said confidently, tapping into the willpower she always held in combat. Mickey nodded and pulled her fans free, scattering wind dust as she held them open and crossed her arms over her chest. She breathed as deeply as she could, letting her aura sweep around her, activating all the dust in the fans...And swung, unleashing the devastating gale force winds.

* * *

 

The door to Team SCRT's room opened with a quiet click as all of the members spilled into the room. Though they'd only been gone for two and a half days, it seemed like forever ago now that they'd opened the door to this room. Like coming back from a long vacation. The twins immediately leapt up onto the top beds of the bunkbeds, which the whole team had chipped in to buy and have delivered. The ladders on the sides weren't even really necessary, so the twins had removed them for Sam and Rachel, who both took bottom bunks, Sam under Chris on the right bunk bed, and Rachel under Tia on the other side. Sam sighed with a smile as he placed Mr. Gump's container on the large nightstand they had been given. The four dressers in the room, two on either side corresponding to the students on that side, were the standard issue at Beacon, and were barely large enough to hold the spare outfits and personalized Combat Outfits. Student's at Beacon had twenty four hour access to professional seamstresses, who were paid good money to reproduce every student's prefered combat wear perfectly, so every student had plenty of duplicates of their favorite outfit for combat. The twins had already tossed their bags on their own nightstands before laying down on their own beds.

"Uuugh...That was bullshit..." Rachel muttered angrily as she lay down on her bed.

Sam nodded as he sat down on his own bed, "Is it just me, or was Ozpin...Not even there...He was  **really** spaced out...Do you think he even heard a word of our report?" he asked as he removed his boots and gauntlets, laying back with his legs crossed.

"I don't know...Who even knows what he was thinking about...Who would  **ever** even know what's on that guy's mind..." Chris answered.

"Yeah...But hey, at least Professor Goodwitch seemed proud of us...Right?" Tia continued.

"But why exactly? Did we even complete the mission correctly?" Rachel muttered, still annoyed.

"I think so...The mission was find who was making the marks and bring them in...We did..." Sam answered.

"But uh...That's kinda one step forward two steps back off a cliff..." the twins said together.

"I mean yeah, we found the guys, but we have absolutely no idea what they were doing. We found more questions than answers, as cliche as it is to say." Chris started.

"Yup...Plus in the process of finding those answers, we caused a shit ton of damage and injuries to civilians in a high speed car chase, which ended in the casualties of a bunch of those guys...And if what Goodwitch said was right, that they're just hypnotized people, then..." Tia left off.

"We just killed a bunch of innocent men and women..." they finished together.

Sam sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hands. As the leader of the team, he should have known what to say right now...But he still wasn't sure. They were right, and he knew it. Rachel glanced over at her partner and sighed, thinking for a minute.

"Well...Either way, if that was the mission criteria, I suppose that means we've fulfilled the mission. That also means Beacon is going to be paying us for it...So why don't we go somewhere nice for dinner and just forget this whole thing..." she offered, trying to take pressure off of Sam.

The twins looked across at eachother and shrugged, "Sounds nice..." they answered together. Rachel sighed and smiled a little, almost going to stand before she suddenly saw Sam already standing before, her, hand extended to take hers. She smiled a little brighter and took his hand to stand up with.

"Before we go though, let's get cleaned up..." he said, glancing at the twins, who'd already dropped down from their top bunks and nodded. Since many students were still away on mission, the team was able to go take a shower without having to go only in pairs. Of course the showers were still separated by gender, despite having a unisex shower room. That shower room was only available to upper level students, however, and only once they'd registered to use it, and signed the Terms of Use papers...Everyone knew why Beacon had made these showers...After all, why else would all the stalls in that shower room be soundproofed. After about half an hour, Team SCRT had met again back in their dorm, dried off and dressed in casual clothing. This casual clothing was similar to the evening wear they'd brought to Mickey's house, but with the sole difference of being combat capable. After the ordeals they'd gone through, they were all still on edge enough to want their weapons with them, even if it was just for a night out. The twins quickly fed Mr. Gump as per the Anna's instructions, and they all filed out the door immediately. Sam locked the door behind them as Rachel pulled out her scroll, looking for a good place still open after the Grimm incident. The twins walked along next to Sam, who walked between them and Rachel.

"Alright, there are actually a few good options still open...Jenny's place is still open, that'd be good-" Rachel stopped when they rounded the corner and ran smack into Professor Goodwitch.

"Oh, Team SCRT. I was just going to see you." she said immediately. Rachel slipped her scroll into her pocket.

"Well uh...Here we are...Can we help with something?" Sam asked.

"Actually, I was just going to congratulate you on performing so well in the field. You're luckier than most to have your mission completed so quickly. But if I'm not mistaken, you also have more experience than most, having already joined another team on two prior missions...Correct?" she started, looking at each of them in turn. The team felt a similar feeling to the one Mickey always gave...Despite being taller than her, the whole team felt short before a professional like Glynda.

"Uh, yeah, that's right...The Grimm Freighter thing..." Rachel answered.

Goodwitch nodded, "Well then, enjoy your time off until the teams start arriving and courses resume. It looks like you're going out for...Perhaps a celebratory dinner? I suggest a small place in the downtown commercial district...It's...Um...Cake something or other. But despite that, the pies are even better than the cake." she said happily. Sam and Rachel tried to suppress a laugh, though Rachel was far more successful.

"Yes, we hear that place is popular...And I think it's Jenny's Cake Castle..." she corrected Glynda.

"Ah yes, that's the one. Well...I don't mean to keep you much longer, but I do have one more question, for your team leader..." she went on. Everyone looked to Sam, who cleared his throat and stood tall. "On your reports, you don't list your last name. And after going back in your records, there isn't one listed. Have you taken this up with Ozpin? Because this can end up causing serious problems with the paperwork later on, and I'd hate for it to end up leaving a black mark on the record of such an exceptional student." she said. Sam's reaction was immediate.

Rachel's mouth opened as if to speak, but Sam beat her to it, "Actually, I  **have** taken it up with Ozpin. He's the one who helped me erase that name. That name belonged to my family and everything they did. I assure you, professor, my family's crimes would leave a much darker mark on my record. I'm not a part of that. I never wanted to be, and I never will be. Headmaster Ozpin has assured me that not only will these crimes not cast a shadow on my career as a huntsman, but that any inconsistency or difficulty with the records that would result from this would be taken care of by him personally...Thank you though, professor, for your concern." he answered immediately, putting on a straight face. The professor appeared taken aback by his answer at first, but after a few seconds she sighed and nodded.

"Very well...Thank you. You may go..." she said as she stepped aside. Sam nodded thanks to her as the team walked past her and hurried to the airfield. As they passed by team JNAS' room however, they stopped again. A man in a sleek black suit stood before JNAS' door, arms crossed. His brunette hair was tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon, and on his belt, he had a small box, that looked like it would hold a deck of cards. When team SCRT stopped, he glanced over at them and smiled a most charismatic smile. His bright red, almost orange eyes were brightly lit in the hallway as he walked up to the team.

"Team SCRT, right? You're affiliates of team JNAS. Can you tell me how long they'll be gone..." he asked in a casual voice, uncrossing his arms and carefully gesturing to each of them in turn as he looked at them. The twins glanced at eachother...This was someone they knew.

"Uh...No, we don't...Why are you looking for them?" they demanded, stepping in front of Sam and Rachel, trying to push them back. They didn't anticipate a fight...But if one happened, this was a man not to be messed with...Especially with the deck of cards on his belt.

The man chuckled and waved his hands, "I mean them no harm, Chris and Tia. I simply have a message for them...I was paid well to make sure they got this message. No worries though, I'm a patient man. They'll be learning plenty themselves soon enough..." he said again, in an easy-going voice. But even at that, it still sounded too much like a threat to the twins, who began to reach for their batons. Sam and Rachel noticed this and glanced at eachother, already steeling themselves for a fight as well. Sam sniffed the air for a few seconds...But it smelled...He wasn't quite sure what he was smelling. It was like purified water in a clear bottle...Translucent and clean...How could an aura smell so clear...He wasn't quite sure how to react to this. But suddenly, he wanted to try some of this man's aura. If it looked so clean, he wondered what kind of taste it would have...And if they got into a fight, he may just get a taste...But it must have shown on his face, because he suddenly felt Rachel's hand on his. He glanced at her and she shook her head.

"What kind of message does someone like you send." the twins demanded together, hands still on their batons.

The man smiled, raising his hands  in defense, "Hey, I'm not here to fight. I promise, I don't mean your friends any harm. I already know how this ends, and it doesn't end with a fight, so please calm down. I'll walk away without a fight in precisely ten seconds...Hm...I'm not here for you...However...You should know...With your recent mission, you too could be in harms way now. You should all be careful when you're not on Beacon grounds. Though make no mistake. Danger lurks here too..." he muttered casually before bowing and turning, walking away without hurry. As he left, however, he glanced back for a moment, "Oh and...Don't go galavanting around in that black van anymore." he said finally before rounding the corner. The tension in the twin's hands dissolved, which eased Sam and Rachel as well. The twins turned to them and started ushering them the other way.

"We shouldn't be taking the same path as that man." they insisted, much to the objections of both their teammates, Rachel more than Sam. Rachel always hated having to use different paths to get to the same place. They walked quickly to the airfield, but found no sign of the man or a pilot. Sam and Rachel sat silently while the twins fervently practiced hand combat together until a pilot could arrive. With the recent breach in Vale, alot of the pilots were patrolling the area around Vale, and the team had a hard time getting a pilot at all to take them into the city. The ride seemed quick enough. Everyone was focusing on their encounter with a man whose aura was pristine. They all quickly got out of the bullhead so the pilot could get off quicker, and walked to where the van was waiting for them in the parking lot. They hesitated, however. After the advice they'd been given by the mysterious messenger, even they weren't sure if using this van was a good idea.

The twins seemed hesitant to even approach the van...So instead, Tia quickly gave a call to Sid, who had gotten a rental car to use while they were in town. She arrived quickly, having acquired this car for the sole purpose of seeing her girlfriend and her team. The car chase the other day had been quite a rush for Sid, who decided that she would pay back the opportunity to help the team by being a driver for them if they needed. It wasn't any job to her...She liked driving around, especially with team SCRT. Tia thanked Sid, and took the front seat as Sid followed Sam's directions to Jenny's Cake Castle. When they arrived, Sam and Tia both insisted Sid join them for dinner. Tia because this was her girlfriend, and she loved having her around. And Sam because it would be rude not to invite Sid for dinner, given all the help she provided. Jenny, whose business was slow today, was more than happy to seat them in the wide corner booth and give them her attention, giving genuine compliments to each of their outfits before taking their order and walking off. As soon as she was gone, the twins put their palms forward on the table, anticipating the question.

"So...Why don't you tell us who that was..." Sam asked immediately.

"The Watcher." they said together. "He's an information broker, basically...You can pay him to tell you things about pretty much anything. He's got a photographic memory...And access to almost every bit of information in Vale, thanks to the network he's put together...You remember those old Sonan Doyle books? About that detective? He's that guy squared...His semblance is future sight..." they explained.

"How do you know him?" Sid asked suddenly, trying to piece together the information.

"W-we...We were once a part of his network...A little while before we were adopted by members of the Whi- uh...Red Fang...We were adopted by a high-ranking member of the Watcher's network...That was when we first grew into combat. The Watcher was the one who awakened our auras..." Tia answered.

"We saw him once in battle...He's not something you want to go up against. And our father...He was actually one of the only arguably  **good** parents we ever had. We never wanted for anything...Our father was one of the Watcher's best informants on underground syndicates all over Vale...Including the great Junior himself. The only real thing he ever did wrong was that we were placed in danger alot...That's why he begged his boss, the Watcher, to awaken our auras...We discovered our Semblance quickly...It made everything easier...We even trained under the Watcher, personally, for a little while...He taught us things that would help us predict the battlefield's flow..." Chris continued. Sam glanced at Rachel, thinking about the man again...He didn't seem like a powerful warrior.

"But the Watcher eventually decided it was best if we weren't around. Thinking back on it, maybe he foresaw where our paths would lead if we left when we did...But...Still...He was dangerous and wild. We went back to him after we escaped our Red Fang parents...He was the only one who could keep us safe. But he said he couldn't help us unless we had information to offer...So we offered him the Red Fang's ledger. The one we stole from their cellar...And he provided us with places to hide...And even helped us get to the police to prove our innocence. But..." Chris trailed off.

"Ahem...We believe he was the one who lead the Beacon officials to us. Of course, we thought it was because they were going to arrest us for the fire..." Tia said.

"But wait...He sounds like a good guy...Why are we...Uh...A-angry with him? Or like, that's the vibe I'm gettin' here...We're angry with him, right?" Sid asked, pausing as Jenny came back with their orders on an incredibly large tray, which she easily balanced on her head while carrying the small stand to put it down on, and in the second hand, her notebook, which she was rarely without. Within two minutes, everyone was served, and she walked away with a bright smile. "She seems so happy to be in this business...Hm...Oh yeah, where were we...Angry with the Watcher, yeah?" Sid continued.

The twins nodded, "Yes and no...We're not angry at him for the way he treated us...He was actually pretty nice...The problem is that he was always unpredictable. I mean damn, he was a future seer. He was someone knew the outcome, who could see the order in the universe...Yet he was always such a chaotic man." Tia answered her.

"Yeah...And he was merciless to the people he was paid to bring down. He's the greatest of nuclear deterrents, but is himself a powerful weapon, if you can pay...And now...We saw him on Beacon grounds...He was outside the door of our friend's team...Team JNAS...He's now looking for them, and whatever he wants, it can't be good. Especially with the threat he gave us..." Chris continued.

"Are you guys worried about whatever message he was there to give?" Sam asked after swallowing the food in his mouth.

"Well to be honest, we're not sure what kind of message he was intended to bring. Was it a threat? Was it...A message like...Was he going to attack them? We're not sure team JNAS could stand against him. Nor could we have, really..." Tia explained, shaking her head as she continued eating.

Rachel paused, fork still above the plate, "Is he really that dangerous? He sounds like Xellos..." Rachel said before taking her bite.

"Maybe even more so...And now he's knocking on our doors...One giant wild card..." Chris said to her, taking another absurdly large bite of his burger.

"Xellos is that one guy I'm not supposed to know about, right? He like...Tore your teams apart, right? And this Watcher guy is even worse? What're you guys getting into...It'd better not be anything that's gonna end up killing my girlfriend..." Sid demanded.

Tia chuckled and quickly kissed Sid's cheek, "Nah, I ain't gonna die...You won't be losing me..." Tia insisted, smiling. From there on, there was silence. No one quite knew what to say in this situation. So they stayed silent as they ate. It was a comfort to Rachel at least, who was happier eating in silence. When Sam asked Rachel to bring the check, everyone simply glanced around at eachother for a few seconds.

"Uh...Maybe...You guys should try calling team JNAS and warning them?" Sid asked as they stood.

Sam shook his head, "Nah, they're out of service area...The only real option we have is to...Watch carefully..." he responded as they stepped out the door to head back home.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Alright ladies and gentlemen, I've got an announcement. At the behest of my co-author and idea man, RougemageNick...We have asked for some art collaboration with a friend, whose story we've referenced in the past. Our friend, Ebony, may be doing a few art pieces for our story. We will be uploading pieces by both artists, Ebony and Anna, as well as weapon sketches (by me, they're not very good...) hopefully soon...However, at this point, we're still unsure of this, and have to discuss it at length before we make any decision final...


End file.
